


Momentary Thaw

by TenkeyLess



Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: Accidental First Kiss, Estinien mentioned in passing, First Kiss, Fluff, Interrupting our dinner with Aymeric was a crime, MSQ Deviation, Other, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-24
Updated: 2019-12-24
Packaged: 2021-02-26 21:07:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,931
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21925300
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TenkeyLess/pseuds/TenkeyLess
Summary: Here's my Secret Santa for deere! When given the choice of Aymeric/WoL, fluff, and MSQ or MSQ adjacent events, you bet I went straight for the fluff xDHappy Holidays all!
Relationships: Aymeric de Borel/Warrior of Light
Comments: 6
Kudos: 66





	Momentary Thaw

**Author's Note:**

  * For [deere](https://archiveofourown.org/users/deere/gifts).



The aroma of warm pancakes and syrup waft across your sensitive nose, and you blearily open your eyes to the cold light of morning. Plush coverlets pile high in a cozy nest around you, blocking your view of the door as a polite knock sounds. You gather your sleep-leadened limbs together in a semblance of decency before calling out.

"--Come in."

An elegant boot appears, nudging the door open for Aymeric. His tousled black hair lays pristine and gleaming against the furred ruff of his morning coat. An enticing sight at any hour. 

"Good morning, my friend. I trust that you slept well?"

He approaches the bedside with a breakfast tray laden with steaming goodies. Delicate footsteps muffled by the layers of carpet, he pulls up a chair and places the silver serving tray on his lap. 

"After such a pleasant evening, it could not be otherwise Aymeric." You grin, drowsiness chased away by the quiet clink of porcelain teacups and plates lightly jostled as he arranges the pastries within your reach. "It has been some time since I was able to take an evening off, I'm glad I was able to spend it here. With you." 

A light flush speckles its way across the tan Elezen's ears. Though his voice is smooth and unflustered, as expected of Ishgard's Lord Commander, when he speaks. 

"It was my pleasure, I assure you. I am glad our long awaited drink after Nidhogg's defeat has brought you such comfort."

Conversation lasps peacefully as you both apply yourselves to the breakfast tray; birch syrup laced tea for him, pancake tower for you. You wonder briefly at how well tailored the tray is to your tastes, and realize Aymeric must have consulted the Fortemps manor staff. A fuzzy feeling grows in your abdomen at the thought, that this man, equally as busy as you, has taken the time to accommodate your every comfort. You offer him a soft smile over the lip of your teacup, gaining an answering smile in the way his eyes crinkle as they regard you. 

"Does milord have plans this morning?"

"Call me Aymeric, please. Let there be no titles between us, most especially as you continue to add to yours dear friend." 

You give him a playful grimace, "As you wish 'Lord Speaker'...Aymeric."

He chuckles at his latest title, mantle of responsibility heavy upon you both yet you find yourselves more than equal to the task.

"As it happens, I have no pressing business until later this afternoon. Might I persuade you to join me for the morning?"

You perk up at the offer. 

_What will you do for yourself?_ He had asked over dinner. While you had no ready answer to supply you find yourself reflecting on his unabashed happiness at your invitation to join in on your next adventure.

"I would be honored to accompany you, Aymeric." You share a mischievous grin, happy to seize what brief freedoms are afforded to figures of your stature. 

Soon only crumbs remain of your shared breakfast, and Aymeric rises with the tray in steady hands. 

"I will leave you to your morning rituals then. Pray seek me out in the reading room downstairs when you are ready to depart?" You nod, unsure of what exactly the day has in store, but more than ready to seize what time you can in this particular Elezen's company.

You waste no time getting ready for the day, pulling on fresh smallclothes in the chill morning air and taking a quick scrub with the washcloth to make your skin presentable. Layering up for the chill outside is only common sense in Coerthas, and you venture forth thusly attired to the reading room. 

Aymeric rises to greet you, already dressed in an azure overcoat with arms spread wide in welcome. "You are a sight to inspire, dear friend. Come, let us be away." He offers you a bent arm in escort and you place your hand in the crook, marveling at how warm the man is even through his Coerthan layers. 

Arm in arm you sweep off into Foundation, Aymeric's sure steps leading you to the Jeweled Crozier. You pass the time on your walk conversing of lighter things; you sharing amusing quests you have completed for the peculiar gobbies in the Hinterlands, and he the innocent gossip of whom is twoing with whom with the barriers between noble and commoner breaking down further each day. 

Aymeric selects and purchases various foodstuffs, small packets of roasted nuts and other finger foods, before guiding you out to the reaches of Foundation near the Coerthan Highland's gates. Here you find a frozen pond, well attended by adults and children alike, skating about on blades strapped to their boot bottoms.

"Do you know how to skate, my friend?"

You look askance at the Lord Commander, unease growing at his carefully smooth smile.

"You know I do not, Aymeric. Estinien has surely crowed to you of my lack in icebound education that he discovered during our Dravanian travels."

You frown at the memory. Estinien had filled the air with his hoarse laughter as you slipped your way across a frozen river's expanse. Strangely Alphinaud, for all his distaste for bodies of water, had proved proficient at crossing the ice with no small amount of aplomb. You rub your rump in remembered pain, tailbone well bruised from that escapade some few moons past. Your discomfort does not escape Aymeric's eyes, and he pats your captive hand reassuringly. 

"Pray relax, my friend. I had hoped to help you learn, if you might be persuaded to indulge me in this?"

You eye the tall Elezen dubiously. He will no doubt prove an effective teacher, lithe and well-poised creature that he is. The question is, whether you can survive the indignity of falling all over yourself in front of him. Aymeric seems to sense your hesitation, offering you one of his beaming smiles. 

"It would be my utmost pleasure to teach you, if you accept?" 

You feel yourself melting under the pure enthusiasm he radiates, like an icicle under the sun. With a heavy sigh you shuck your pride and nod assent. 

"Very well, but please promise me _no word_ of today will reach the Azure Dragoon?" 

The elated smile you receive from the Lord Commander is well worth any undignified sprawling to come. A finger comes to rest before his plush lips in a gesture of confidance.

"Not a word", he agrees, sky blue eyes fairly twinkling in mischievous delight.

* * *

All too soon you find yourself on the ice, rented skates tied to your boots and shaking hands tucked securely in Aymeric's grasp. His firm hold leads you, tugging you gently in his path as he skates backwards with ease. You are sure no one would accuse you of being _graceful_ , with the way your feet skitter on the ice. Yet in Aymeric's sure company you cannot help but feel like a lady, borrowing her partner's poise, lent dignity by the surplus he exudes. 

Legs stiffly spread, you glide along in his wake as you complete your first circuit of the frozen pond. By the third pass, you are more straight than hunched, and by the sixth you are trying your own tentative steps forward. Aymeric's soft grin and gentle instruction inspire you to release one of his hands from your mittened death-grip, and he easily shifts to skate alongside you. 

It's a surreal experience, the Lord Commander serenely skating alongside the fawn-legged Warrior of Light. You've fought _with_ this man, fought _for_ this man, fought _alongside_ him, and yet--your shared cloak of responsibility falls away until all that remains is his warm hand in yours. His shy smiles and surreptitious glances give you hope that he, perhaps, finds the here and now between you the most important piece of your relationship yet. 

"You see, my friend, you are already gliding along like an old hand." No sooner does he draw attention to your smooth stride than you hit a pocket of raised ice, scrabbling for your footing on the slippery surface. Aymeric tries to stabilize you, but with only a hand connecting you, your graceless stumble pulls him off balance. With a yelp you drag him down, and with knightly reflexes, he shifts under you to cushion the fall. His eyes widen and he grunts as your shoulder impacts his chest, wedged between you and the ice in the barest moment before you smacked into the ground. Breathless from the fall, you nonetheless try to sit up, concerned, when Aymeric groans beneath you. You turn your face to view him, hands propped on the ice above his head, when your precarious grip slips and you fall back onto him with a whump. 

Slowly, silently, you open your eyes to see what, exactly, is the soft surface your lips are resting on. Equally glacial, soundless, Aymeric meets your gaze as his lips lie connected with yours. You both stare at each other, startled by the fall and now frozen in this inadvertent kiss. 

A gentle cough nearby shatters the moment, and you both flush red with embarrassment. You scramble off him, dignity forgotten in your bid to put distance between you. He seems equally out of sorts, apologizing profusely though you are unsure as to what, exactly, his gilded words of regret are tailored for. For not forestalling your fall? For inviting you to skate in the first place? ...For the kiss?

Dismay strikes through you at that last suspicion. You've come to quite enjoy the subtle dance between you two. If it should be cut short due to your misstep, well, let it never be said the Bringer of Light will be cowed out of facing up to their mistakes. You waver on your skates, standing once more, and regard Aymeric's tomato red cheeks as he avoids your gaze. They burn undeniably brighter now than when the wind pinked your cheeks with its bluster. Reaching a cautious hand out, you cup his face and turn it gently back to meet yours. 

His expression is frozen somewhere north of disbelieving hope as you draw close, lips nearly meeting his. You whisper a question, an entreaty, and his stillness thaws enough to take your mouth with his. A chaste kiss, due to your location, though you can sense the passion tamped down within. Breaking the kiss, you rock back to inquire whether his afternoon plans might be delayed, when your footing slips. 

This time, close to hand, Aymeric sizes your arms to prevent your fall. Warmth radiates through his grip, shifting to tender embrace as you find your feet. You stand encircled in his arms, hands braced against his chest, when a man in House Fortemps livery comes clanking down from the stone gates to your pond. 

Aymeric's grip tenses at the sight, before releasing you to a more proprietously sanctioned distance. You lean forward to whisper a promise to continue this later, before reluctantly pushing off his chest as duty intrudes. His solemnly hopeful nod sustains you as the Fortemps knight summons you back to the manor, some manner of Primal threat newly arisen and requiring your attention. 

As the crush of daily life for the vaunted Bringer of Light resumes, you find yourself returning to the memory of a stolen morning, hand in hand with the warmest heart in Ishgard. And, before the heavens turn to a new year, you find your hands on the knocker to the Borel Manor, newly purchased skates in hand and an invitation on your lips.

**Author's Note:**

> Want to join in on some wholesomely debauched and enabling conversation? Come on by our [FFXIV writing discord](https://discord.gg/PvbG45u) and join in! This Secret Santa fic came about via an event run by one of our lovely mods :)


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